Richard "King Richard", "Kermit" Brodeur (born September 15, 1952), is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...

. Brodeur was born in

Longueuil Longueuil () is a city in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of the Montérégie administrative region and the central city of the urban agglomeration of Longueuil. It sits on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River directly acr ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

and grew up in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Playing career

Brodeur was selected in the

1972 NHL Entry Draft The 1972 NHL Amateur Draft was the 10th NHL Entry Draft. It was held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec. The last active player in the NHL from this draft class was Richard Brodeur, who played his last NHL game in the 1987–88 s ...

by the

New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ( ...

, but chose instead to play in the

World Hockey Association The World Hockey Association (french: Association mondiale de hockey) was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (NHL) ...

with the

Quebec Nordiques The Quebec Nordiques (french: Nordiques de Québec, pronounced in Quebec French, in Canadian English; translated "Quebec City Northmen" or "Northerners") were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City. The Nordiques played in the W ...

, for whom he played for seven seasons. The 1975–76 season was his best; he played 69 games and won 44 of them. In 1976–77, he helped his team win the

Avco World Trophy The Avco World Trophy, also known as the Avco Cup, is the playoff championship trophy of the defunct World Hockey Association (1972– 1979). The trophy's naming rights were sold to the former Avco Corporation (a name originally derived from "Avi ...

. When the WHA folded following the 1978–79 season, he was protected as one of the Nordiques' priority selections, then was traded to the Islanders for

Göran Högosta Alf Göran Högosta (born April 15, 1954 in Äppelbo, Sweden) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey goaltender. Högosta played one game for the New York Islanders in 1977-78 and in 21 games with the Quebec Nordiques in 1979-80. In Sweden ...

. However, he only played two games for them as he was the third goalie behind Billy Smith and

Chico Resch Glenn Allan "Chico" Resch (born July 10, 1948) is a Canadian-American former professional ice hockey goaltender and television sportscaster. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1973 to 1987, and won a Stanley Cup with the New York ...

, and was traded to the

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference, and play their home games at Rogers Arena. Bruce B ...

in 1980. In his second season with the Canucks, he guided the team during their playoff run to the

finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

, which they lost to Brodeur's old team, the Islanders. Brodeur was selected to play in the 1983 All-Star Game, but couldn't play due to an ear injury suffered in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

three days earlier. He remained with the Canucks for almost eight seasons, then was traded near the end of the

1987–88 NHL season The 1987–88 NHL season was the 71st season of the National Hockey League. It was an 80-game season with the top four teams in each division advancing to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. This season would see the Edmonton Oilers win their fourth Stanl ...

to the

Hartford Whalers The Hartford Whalers were a professional ice hockey team based for most of its existence in Hartford, Connecticut. The club played in the World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1972 until 1979, and in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1979 to ...

, where he ended his NHL career. He was the last active NHL player from the WHA's inaugural season, and the last to have played in all seven seasons of the WHA's existence. After his retirement, he founded his own hockey school in the Vancouver area. He also briefly worked as an analyst on

French TV telecasts. He has been noted as the goaltender on whom

Wayne Gretzky Wayne Douglas Gretzky ( ; born January 26, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. He played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for four teams from 1979 to 1999. Nicknamed "the Great One ...

scored the most goals, with 29.

Awards

*Terry Sawchuk Award (CHL) - 1979-1980 *Named to the NHL All-Star Game - 1983 *

Cyclone Taylor Award The Cyclone Taylor Award is the award given each year to the most valuable player on the Vancouver Canucks (a National Hockey League team). It is named after Cyclone Taylor, a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who led the Vancouver ...

(Vancouver Canucks) - 1981, 1982, 1985 *Molson Cup (Most Canucks three-star selections) - 1980–81, 1981–82, 1984–85, 1985–86 *Inaugural inductee into the

World Hockey Association Hall of Fame The World Hockey Association Hall of Fame is an independent organization dedicated to honoring the World Hockey Association (WHA) which operated from 1972 to 1979 as a major professional ice hockey league. Officially partnered with the United Stat ...

- 2010

Personal life

Brodeur is an artist, using oil on canvas, and has had several shows at Diskin Galleries in Vancouver.

Career statistics

References

External links

*
Profile at hockeydraftcentral.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brodeur, Richard 1952 births Living people Binghamton Whalers players Canadian ice hockey goaltenders Cornwall Royals (QMJHL) players Fredericton Express players French Quebecers Hartford Whalers players Ice hockey people from Montreal Indianapolis Checkers (CHL) players Maine Nordiques players New York Islanders draft picks New York Islanders players Sportspeople from Longueuil Quebec Nordiques (WHA) players Vancouver Canucks players Verdun Maple Leafs (ice hockey) players